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Tip

Pears

If using very ripe pears, the mixture may be a bit slack, so add another 1-2 tbsp flour.

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line
a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin with
baking parchment and brush with butter.

Put the prepared pears in a bowl with
the lemon juice and Poire William, if
using, to prevent them discolouring.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into
a bowl, adding a pinch of salt and the
caster sugar. Next beat in the eggs and
melted butter. Finally, fold in the pears
with their juices. Pour the cake mixture
into the tin. Bake for about 50 mins or
until a skewer comes out clean. Place
on a wire rack and allow to cool slightly
before removing from the tin, gently
peeling away the parchment.

To make the glaze, melt the apricot jam
with 1 tbsp water and pass through a
sieve to remove any lumps. Brush the
cake with the glaze, dust with icing sugar
and serve warm with crème fraîche.

Fabulous! I am always looking out for low fat and low sugar cakes. This was a divine treat I whipped up in 20 minutes with the husband supervising the 7 year old who chopped 2 pears and an apple. I used spelt flour and substituted gin for Poure William liquer as that is all I had in the pantry and poured the mixture into a loaf tin lined with parchment. I also added vanilla essence. The cake rose beautifully and the fruit was evenly distributed through the loaf. I made the apricot jam glaze but next time I won't bother. The cake was scrumptious served with Greek yoghurt. Next time, I would add raspberries to the pear and ground cinammon, ginger and all spice just to add some scent. It's fabulous to find a cake recipe using only one-third cup of sugar, 1 cup plain flour and 50 grams of butter that tastes sensational with lots of fruit. A real winner that the whole family loves.

I made this using very ripe William pears and didn't bother with the liqueur. I did use the apricot glaze but didn't bother with the icing sugar. I served with cream. This was a delight and so quick and easy! I shall make this again.

As others have said, the jam and icing sugar aren't necessary to finish off this pudding, I found it to be perfect the way it was when it came out of the oven all golden brown. I used three large Conference pears as that was what I had. I didn't bother peeling them because cooked pear skins are barely noticeable, they just melt away. My pears weren't especially ripe, but they tasted great in the pudding. I will certainly make this pudding again, perhaps substituting brown sugar for the caster sugar.

Only made half the amount because I didn't have enough pears, and put it in a loaf tin so it wouldn't be too stretched out. Cooked in 35 mins. I liked it, but it is very sweet and pear-y (mine were quite ripe) - a bit too sweet for my liking. I would put less sugar in next time and maybe more lemon to balance it out a bit. A nice texture though and not too stodgy so less guilt than a normal cake!

I made this for a dinner party desert. It's was fantastic! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it served with homemade custard. really simple and quick to make. I didn't bother with the apricot glaze, just dusted some icing sugar.

What an amazing treat! Easy and so good. Not to heavy, there is more fruit as cake which I think is awesome as a simple dessert, but also for christmas or easter when you've already had such a large meal. Skipped the liquer.

I made something almost, but not entirely, unlike this recipe. Working with what we had in I used apples not pears, Muscat not poire William, Benecol spread not butter, lime juice not lemon, didnât glaze it & added a good tsp of Vanilla Bean paste. I then served it with Greek yoghurt whipped with Honey, Muscat & Vanilla paste. Despite all these changes, it was gorgeous and moist. I had to cook it for about 70mins, but that could be because of the denser fruit. 1/6th of a cake gives a really decent size slice; will definitely make again with different fruit!

I made this with seriously overripe pears that were carried home in my bicycle basket and were almost mush by the time they got home. The skins were brown and bruised and it didn't look likely that I could peel them so I just chucked in the skins too - it came out just fine with no obvious brown bits! so no need to peel if your pears are very ripe...

Such an easy and light cake to make that is a treat to eat! The whole thing disappeared in seconds and would be a fab end to any dinner party. As some people have commented the pear flavour isn't strong despite the amount of fruit, but that's partly why it went down so well. I'm liking the idea of trying it with ground almonds and different fruits too - yum!

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